Health Column: 7 Unexpected Reasons For Weight Gain

BY SHIRLEY-ANN CHINONYE

Despite what you may think, genetics are not entirely to blame.

Our genetic expression can actually help in maximizing our weight loss and happiness. How? Gene activity changes fluidly and quickly. Your genes are dynamic and respond to everything you think and do. Gene expression changes due to stress, diet, environment, thoughts and other factors. That’s why the everyday choices you make express themselves on a genetic level.

Before we get into how to help your genes express themselves to benefit you most, let’s look at the seven most common factors for excess fat gain:

1. Chronic Stress

Chronic stress causes an increase in cortisol, which turns on fat storage within the body.

2. Allergenic food

Gluten, dairy and soy can trigger excess inflammation within the body, making it almost impossible to burn fat and to achieve real body transformation. In fact, many experts believe that wheat products are some of the biggest contributors to weight gain, fatigue and blood sugar imbalances.

3. A sedentary lifestyle

According to researchers from Vanderbilt University who followed 6,300 people, the average person spends 55 percent of waking hours (7.7 hours) sedentary or sitting. In 2010, the American Cancer Society reported that if you sit for more than six hours per day, you are 48-95 percent more likely to die prematurely than people who sit only three hours per day. The good news? If you reduce the amount of time you spend sitting, you’ll also reduce your risk of gaining more weight and developing serious health issues, brain fog and even muscle loss.

4. Imbalanced gut bacteria

Did you know that 90 percent of all disease can be traced back to the health of your gut? So, it’s no surprise that one way to turn on your body’s fat-burning switch is by balancing your microbiome. The average body houses slightly more microbes than the number of cells in the entire body. Your body has a symbiotic relationship with these microbes, but when you eat unhealthy food and are exposed to excessive stress, unhealthy microbes being to thrive and disrupt the balance of order. Unhealthy microbes feed off of stress hormones, sugar and starches. The resulting spike in sugar cravings negatively affects your body’s gene expression, prompting fat-burning pathways to be turned “off.”

Certain bacteria are also called “fat-promoting bacteria,” as they influence your body to gain weight and store fat. When the normal balance of bacteria shifts over to the negative, it’s called dysbiosis. Having more fat-promoting bacteria (unhealthy bacteria) than “skinny-gut bacteria” (healthy bacteria) isn’t just linked to obesity and weight gain, but many other systemic conditions as well.

5. Toxins

Over 100,000 new chemicals have been introduced into the market since World War II. These chemical toxins are now being shown to cause hormone dysregulation and promote weight gain within the body. In fact, many of these chemicals are considered to be obesogens. Toxins can be broken down into two categories: 1) environmental toxins (non-living) and 2) biotoxins (living).

Environmental toxins bio-accumulate within our bodies when we are exposed to heavy metals, plastics, paints, new carpets, household cleaning supplies, cosmetics and more. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in the National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals found 287 chemicals in the umbilical cord blood of newborn infants. (11) Over 200 of these chemicals were neurotoxic and many were obesogens. Also, the number of airborne chemicals are 10 times greater indoors than outdoors, which is especially troubling considering the amount of time we spend inside homes, offices and classrooms during our lifetime.

Biotoxins come in the forms of viruses, unhealthy bacteria and yeasts, parasites and mold exposure. Can toxins actually make you fat? The answer is an emphatic “yes!” A study published in The Lancetshowed that environmental toxins indeed contribute to abnormal metabolic function. In two-thirds of Americans, toxins were central metabolic disruptors that contribute to the overaccumulation of body fat. Biotoxins and environmental toxins alike can cause hormone signaling problems, thyroid issues and low energy levels.

6. Sugar Overload

In the early 1900s, the average American consumed less than 20 grams of sugar per day. Now we consume over 100 grams of sugar per day. This taxes the body’s organs and cells and can create systemic damage.

Sugar increases dangerous low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particles along with atherogenic cardiovascular risk factors. It also has been shown to be as addictive as nicotine, alcohol and even recreational drugs such as cocaine and heroin. Sugar is easily converted into stored fat, with its over-consumption leading to a phenomenon called insulin resistance. When you eat a high-sugar or starch-containing meal or treat, your body doesn’t receive the proper signals to feel full and, before you know it, you overeat. Furthermore, a high-sugar diet causes leptin resistance, which is directly connected to increased cravings and weight gain.

7. Genetically Modified foods

While your current body condition may not be your fault, it is your responsibility — or rather opportunity — to change. Here are some of the biggest challenges with some of the so-called “foods” that we are eating:

• Our consumption of grain-based oils, also known as “vegetable fats,” has skyrocketed. Surprisingly, these fats aren’t derived from vegetables at all; rather, they come in large part from genetically modified (GMO) canola, soy and corn oils. GMO-containing grain and seed oils can cause imbalances within our bodies, leading to weight gain.
• Today, 43 percent of our food budgets are spent on fast food and takeout meals, compared to just 13 percent back in 1929! More staggering? A study published in the BMJ Open Journal found that 58 percent of the average American’s daily energy intake comes from ultra-processed foods such as cakes, white breads and diet sodas. (12)

There’s good news. You can actually learn how to make your genes work for you to create a body transformation, burn fat, boost your brain and feel amazing!

The foods you eat, the thoughts you think and the lifestyle you live change the environment in and around your cells. This special environment that modifies DNA expression is called your epigenome.

The ability to transform your body at the cellular level is perhaps the most exciting aspect of making dietary and lifestyle changes, like the keto diet, including regular exercise and more.

Turning on the fat-burning genes

The keto diet is being praised for its simplicity and its wide range of benefits, but I think one of the most exciting aspects of keto is the way it enables the body to use fat as fuel.

Keto actually allows the body to function as a fat burner.When you follow a keto diet, your primary source of energy comes from fat and being in the state of ketosis, which occurs when your body does not have glucose to burn.

Benefits of Being in the Fat-Burning Zone

Consistently achieving a state of fat burning helps you to maximize brain function and even use fat for energy. An estimated 99 percent of Americans are sugar burners. They utilize sugar for energy, which is less efficient than clean-burning fat and contributes to hormone dysregulation that causes out-of-control cravings. Following a keto plan will put you squarely into the fat-burning zone, helping you to use fat as fuel. Here are some of the perks of getting into the fat-burning zone:

• Appetite and hunger control, stemming from balanced hormones
• Healthy weight loss
• Mental clarity and increased concentration and focus
• Sound, restful sleep
• Optimized metabolic function
• Healthy inflammation levels
• Normal blood sugar levels and insulin response
• Healthy blood lipid levels, including cholesterol and triglycerides
• Increased feelings of happiness and well-being
• Healthy digestive function
• Balanced immune system function
• All-day energy

Couped from Josh Axe DC,DNM, CNS

 

 

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